Object 2455: The Holder of the Ninth

In any forgettable building, in any city, you will find that which can only protect us. This will be the most trying of journeys, for your building of choice must be truly forgotten. Abandoned will not suffice for this Object, you must find a building which seemed to only exist once you laid eyes upon it. A building not only forgotten by man, but by time and space.

Once you find that which has been forgotten, you must enter and proclaim loudly, "I am the first and the last, I demand to speak to the Holder of the Ninth." If you have found that which time has forgotten, the building will groan as if to collapse. If you wish to turn back, and return to the ignorance of the common man, now is the time. If you wish to proceed, you must now speak blasphemy. "I am the Alpha and Omega. the beginning and the end. I wish to speak to the Holder of the Ninth." If you have spoken with true conviction, the building will shudder, and you will be sure of its collapse. Do not flinch, for if you do, the building will truly collapse. You will be crushed and forgotten as an unfortunate casualty in the minds of men. In the minds greater and infinitely more devious than men though, you will be remembered as you are tortured and tormented until the Objects have been reunited, only to be abandoned to the fate that They bring.

If you have not faltered, you must begin your search. You will discover that the building holds innumerable doors, regardless of its size, with hallways stretching beyond comprehension. Your journey will only complicate from here on. The Others have locked this Holder away for a reason. She holds that which can keep Them apart, and They wish to be united. You must wander aimlessly, if you by chance begin to fathom a destination, you will find that your next door is the exit. You may breathe a sigh of relief, believing that you have been spared any one of the vicious fates that have befallen failed Seekers. Then you will begin to wonder why you entered the building to begin with. You will wander the earth, barely remembering where you have come from and barely comprehending where you are going. Grasping at the knowledge of your destination as a drowning man grasps for air. You will come upon yourself one day, having forgotten that which you are, and you will tear at yourself for freedom from your decaying shell. You will be damned to claw at your own flesh for eternity, all the while grasping for the reason behind your self-mutilation, and never feeling the liberating relief of memory.

If you have wandered until you have forgotten what you seek, you will come upon a door. A door exactly as the rest, only differing in the weight that its presence carries. You will know you have found your destination, but you must not fathom what lies next, or it will cease to be the one which you came to find. You will drown in the empty sea of amnesia, all the while wandering these dead halls, as if you never came across this dead door. Celebrate not though, for your journey is far from over.

As you enter this door, you will be confronted with the sins of the Seekers. From the beginning to the end. You must walk amongst them, feeling their atrocities, as much as you hear and see them. Feel no ounce of sympathy for any one of these Seekers nor for their victims. If you do, you will be damned to the fate of each and every. You will feel every injury, every emotion, and every fear as they do, not knowing why you must endure this fate. If you can endure these blasphemous scenes and acts, you will find that which you see changing slowly. You have almost entered the dwelling of your coveted Holder, and for that, dear Seeker, the universe sympathizes for you in the same way you are not allowed to.

As the scene begins to change, you find yourself looking upon the atrocities of the Objects. You feel Their corruption, you can taste the blood spilled by Their ancient horrors. You will see that which They have been, that which They are, and that which They will become. You will spin Their tales of blasphemy, as much as you watch them spun, becoming entwined with Them as They with you. You will beg for reprieve, you will do all in your power to divert from your course, you will search for the fruits of failure, all the while finding none. You will not even be driven to madness, for you are not allowed. Your sanity will remain, forcing you to contend with these inhumane horrors with only your humane understanding of the universe. As you begin to beg any and all who may be kind enough to deliver death to you, for any price they ask, you will find that silence has taken the place of the cries of those that all things good and merciful have shunned. You are in the presence of the Holder of the Ninth.

Legends have it that It appears as a blindfolded little girl. Its innocence only matched by Its corruption. You must form no question in your mind, for if you do, she will fill your mind with endless, unanswerable questions, and giggle as you writhe in the agony of unquenchable ignorance. This is her entertainment, until the next fool who dares cross her path. She enjoys being entertained, for not many have the clarity of mind to make it this far. You must only think of her as she appears, or on that which you have just witnessed. She will then ask you a question. "Why do you exist?"

You must answer with the tales of the Seekers and the Objects. She has heard this story many times, but you must tell it as if you are the first. Go into detail until the child begins to weep. She will weep blood, and her cries will pierce your soul. Do not comfort her, or she will lash out at you for bringing this sadness upon her. If she begins to speak, you must run. Do not think of why you must run, or the corruption that you have to brave to regain entrance to the world of man. Run without thought for she will latch onto your mind and drag you back, to be devoured over and over again by her tiny teeth and ripped apart continuously by tiny hands. You are only safe when you have forgotten that which you feared. The lucky have moved on, while the unlucky have returned to the same buildings to repeat this accursed cycle.

If she rises without a word, and unties her blindfold, then you have succeeded. As you stare upon her vacant eyes, you will realize why contemplation has been forbidden in this undying temple. You have been betrayed. You came here to stop their horrific plans, only to be forced to be a part of them. As the blindfold descends, you will find yourself looking into the abyss, but as you turn to look upon your surroundings, you will see countless men and women marching past. You will reach out to them, begging them to stop, but your words will not match your thoughts. Sometimes you may utter questions, utter cries of all sorts, or simply cause the Seeker to be illuminated by light or be bathed in darkness. In some cases, the Seeker's actions will banish them from your sights, leaving you to beg the darkness for them to turn back from their journey. In most cases though, many Seekers will respond incorrectly, leaving them vulnerable to you. You may only drag them off to a terrifying fate, you have no other way of stopping their dead quest. You have now become the Holder of the Ninth. You may now also understand your title, for you call out to them under the guise of what they seek, in hopes of saving them from the fate they will most assuredly encounter by bringing together the Objects. They may answer you in trust too, believing they have found the thing for which they have gone searching, only to be drawn off to a fate that even their worst nightmare could not conjure. You understand you are the Holder of the Ninth, for that is the ring in which you will reside when eternity comes to pass.

The blindfold is Object lost. It has been hidden by the Others to limit its power. It has been forgotten for its purpose, and its purpose is to be forgotten. Only that which forged the Objects may reunite it with the Others.

Object 2483: The Holder of Fog

On any coast of any continent, go to the ocean alone just after sunset. When the moon is risen, half full, and no one will see you, strip completely naked (you must be barefoot, especially), sit on the wet sand facing away from the water, and close your eyes.

Wait until you are shivering, covered in goosebumps, then state aloud, "I wish to see the Holder of Fog".

If a wave strikes your back, the Holder has accepted you. If not, the Holder has denied you. The sea will rise. You will be unable to move, drowning in the tide. Some potential Seekers have fought through this paralysis long enough to get away from the beach, but invariably complain of crippling joint pain and severe shortness of breath while within 10-to-15 feet of water forever after, and tap water will never again emerge warm from pipe or faucet.

A significant number have died from slipping in the kitchen, bathtub, or shower.

If you are able to stand, open your eyes. A thick gray fog will surround you. The ground will be pale sand; take with you only Objects, and wear no clothing. Choose a direction in which to walk; regardless, you will reach your goal so long as you do not stray. It will be difficult. You will see nothing but the gray fog, and lumps of black driftwood jutting from the wet and ashen sand. The solitude and silence will inebriate your mind and befuddle your senses. If you lose your way, the fog will madden you. You will wander cold and alone forever.

The shapes of things like gulls can be seen wheeling above, but their anatomies are grossly distorted; similarly, the things that splash half-seen off the dark shore are neither fish nor serpents.

Pay no heed to the sounds coming from inside your skull or the growls out in the fog, they should leave you be. If they don't, you have not yet failed this quest - they will hunt you in the shifting mists to tear you to shreds, but some Objects may serve as weapons against them.

There is much trash and detritus along the beach, all of it sodden and ugly. You will encounter campsites and torn clothing, empty food wrappers and used condoms, rusty machinery and water-logged old pornographic magazines: all the useless, cast-off moldering debris of humanity's passage. Moisture beads upon and slickens everything. Your breath will be ragged and choked within a few hours, and your feet numb to all but the deeper cuts from broken glass and bent nails hidden beneath the surface of the icy sand.

You will develop pneumonia, bronchitis, a severe chest cold, or some nasty combination of these ailments. It is recommended that you allow for six-to-eight weeks of bedrest after attempting this test.

Eventually, you will reach a series of dunes - and after these, a crumbling mountain-castle of wet-packed sand. The ascent of this final edifice will take quite a long time, and must be completed with your mouth full of brackish seawater. As you go up, the sand will give way to rocks, sharp shells, and sodden black driftwood that will cut your bare feet and hands. Do not stop to rest or you will feel yourself sliding down in the sand and you will have to begin again at the bottom.

Once you are here amongst the dunes, the larger predators will begin to move in.

They are here to feed.

At the very top of the crumbling castle should be a rocky peak, edging above the fog. A hunched and aged man holding a crutch has already scaled the rocky dune, his left foot bent and broken.

Climb up to the man. When you finally reach him he will laugh, saying, "So you have come for my Object?"

It is recommended you do not respond, because any answer you give will cause the man to laugh harder and cast you back down to be hunted in the fog. However, this is your one and only opportunity to refuse the test; if you swallow the seawater and apologize to the man, he will acknowledge your mistake and allow you to wake on the shore of the real world naked, cold, and wet.

Or you may choose to say nothing. To face him. Because you are here, in truth, to take the Object.

The man will draw back a hood to reveal his terrible face. His cheeks and nose are bloated from humidity, and his skin is pale gray from lack of sunshine. Much of the skin on his lower jaw is missing. Milky, fat tumors hang limply from him, and one eye weeps a yellowish mucus continually. His scalp is spotted with scabs and sores from exposure to salt and open air.

His expression will sour, and then he will take from his pocket a single dry cigarette.

He will challenge you, "Go get it, then."

You must dive after the cigarette. Catch it before it is lost on the ground, soaked through and ruined in the blink of an eye, surrounded by hungry scavengers.

If you fail, the man will begin to cackle; taking another mouthful of seawater, you may attempt to climb again. Again and again, you may try. Always and forever, the man at the high peak has a single fresh, dry cigarette that he casts down the side of his castle into the wet dark. It burns cold, exhaling mist and killing fog instead of smoke.

If you succeed, you will land back on the beach among your clothes. When you reach your hand into your pocket, the cigarette is always there.

This cigarette is Object 2483 of 2538. You breathe only poison, now; your lips leak salt water.

Object 2494: The Holder of Pity

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Pity". The worker will lower his head and lead you wordlessly to a door not far away from the front desk.

As soon as the worker turns to leave, quickly close your eyes, open the door, and step through. If you open your eyes at this point, you will witness the Creation of the Objects and go completely insane with the knowledge. Keep your eyes closed until you close the door behind you.

You will see that you are in a field of tall grass, surrounded on all sides by impenetrable forest. The sun will be high in the sky. Feel free at this point to explore the clearing, but never wander too close to the forest. After several hours, you will hear an indistinguishable noise. You must find the source of this noise before sunset, for when the sun sets, the denizens of the forest emerge to feast.

When you locate the source of the noise, you will realize that it is a small child no more than 4 years of age. The child will appear injured and will plead for help. If you ignore the child's plea, a door will appear behind you. Walk through the door and you will forget the existence of the Objects and anything relating to them. If anyone ever tries to tell you about the Objects, you will stare at them blankly until they leave. If, in your quest for the Objects, you have received any infirmity, mutation, insanity, or disease it will be cured. If you lost any person item or loved one, they will be restored. Any effect, whether you perceive it as good or bad, will be reversed and any Objects you have found will return to their Holders. In essence, your life will return to exactly the state it was in before you embarked on your quest. You will die of old age, blissfully unaware of the Objects and any horrors they carry. The Holder of Pity has shown pity.